Man, 25, Killed Outside Strip Club in Capitol Heights

A 25-year-old man was killed during a robbery attempt outside a strip club in Capitol Heights early yesterday when he was shot while trying to flee and then struck by a vehicle, Prince George's County police said.

Jamaal William Clover was shot by an assailant about 4:30 a.m. as he left the club with two women, police said. After he was shot, Clover stumbled onto Central Avenue, where he was struck by a vehicle, said Henry Tippett, a police spokesman. Clover was pronounced dead at the scene.

Later in the day, relatives filled Clover's home in New Carrollton, comforting one another as they struggled to absorb the news. Pat Clover said her son was the youngest of three children and had been "raised in the church."

Samuel Clover Jr. said he was told by the police that his son was shot despite having given the assailant money. Clover acknowledged that his son wasn't perfect but blamed the club, Irving's, as well.

"I just want to find out what needs to be done to close this club down because it is not good for the community," he said.

Owner Daniel Irving said in an interview that the club had closed 30 minutes before the shooting and that Clover was a passenger in a car with two exotic dancers.

"We have security and two armed guards on duty at the club, but this happened after the club was closed," Irving said. "Everybody else had left the premises. The only people in the parking lot was the two dancers and Jamaal."

As a promoter of exotic dancing, Irving has long been a controversial figure in the county. In 2004, county officials said he was among the beneficiaries of a loophole in county law that allowed late-night clubs to feature strip shows if alcohol wasn't served or consumed.

In many such instances, promoters take over garages, warehouses and storefronts and charge patrons to watch strip shows, officials told The Post in 2004. Although technically within the law, state and county officials said then, these businesses were hot spots for crime.

At the time, authorities said the county was host to at least a dozen such clubs.

Citing accounts from his employees, Irving said yesterday that the dancers and Clover "were pulling out of the parking lot, and [the assailant] called them back. They stopped; they were in the car. When they rolled down the window, he said, 'This is a robbery.' "

Irving said Clover "gets out of the car and gets shot, and then he got ran over."

Outside the club, there was a patch of what appeared to be dried blood in the driveway. A truck in the dirt parking lot carried a large billboard advertising the club -- "Irving's Triple XXX Rated" -- and a second nightspot, in Hyattsville.

Pat Clover, a retired schoolteacher, said her son was a member of Laurel High School's Class of 2000. She said he had worked at several jobs that involved providing care for people with disabilities.

"My son had a big heart," she said.

Her husband said: "What is disturbing is how young black people are destroying each other. This is another senseless tragedy. I just don't want my son to become another statistic."